7 questions with . . . David Mark

An exceptionally unusual premise and the strong characterization of a gentle giant hero deliver the old one-two in the November 2012 Mystery of the Month, The Dark Winter by debut author David Mark. Writes whodunit columnist Bruce Tierney, "English critics have compared David Mark to the likes of Val McDermid and Ian Rankin. My prediction:...

Whodunit Column by Bruce Tierney

Somewhere in the hinterlands, flanked by hard-boiled detective fiction on one side and cloying cozies on the other, exists a brand of mystery offering up the plot devices of, say, an Agatha Christie, but lacking the violence of, say, a Mickey Spillane. The authors eschew the cuteness of talking cats, sleuthing priests or nosy B&B proprietors, crafting instead a canny group of protagonists...

Whodunit Column by Bruce Tierney

Best-selling British author Mark Billingham (Sleepyhead, The Burning Girl) returns with Buried, a chilling police procedural of a kidnapping investigation that goes horribly awry when family members play fast and loose with the truth, ostensibly in order to protect themselves. This circling of the wagons is perhaps understandable, but Detective Inspector Tom Thorne will have none of it. Widely...

Whodunit Column by Bruce Tierney

Let's say your life included a Ferrari, a seven-figure income, a pricey home in an exclusive suburb, a corner office in a prestigious law firm and a wife who could place well in the Miss America contest (albeit nowhere in the running for Miss Congeniality). Then a high-profile pro bono case gets thrown your way, and you must defend a hooker accused of murdering the son of a soon-to-be...

Audio Column by Sukey Howard

Mario Puzo, Vito Corleone, even Marlon Brando have left us, but still The Godfather Returns and it's a fabulous return at that. Mark Winegardner was chosen to continue the saga with its huge cast of memorable, tough-talking characters, and he does it with Puzo-esque flare and bravado. Michael Corleone, Vito's smart, well-educated son has become the Godfather (a Puzo-invented title that's taken...

Mark Winegardner joins the mob

Literary novelist takes on the Corleone family Mark Winegardner is dead tired. The past two years of his life have been spent holed up in monastic artist colonies like Yaddo for months at a time, writing around the clock. Down the stretch, during the last eight weeks of writing, he literally slept every other night, a man on fire determined to...